First steps

First steps in MCA2

Please step into the section that considers your favorite operating system.

Linux

Download

Get the newest version of MCA2 on sourceforge:

• Download MCA2 from MCA2's Sourceforge Page

 [~]$ tar -xzf mca2.4.0.beta.tgz<br/>
 [~]$ mv mca2.4.0.beta.tgz mca2<br/> 
 [~]$ cd mca2

Build

• Configure MCA2 for your system:

  [~]$ scons configure=yes

• Set environment variables:

  [~]$ source script/mcasetenv

• Compile everything:

  [~]$ scons

Executables are installed in $(MCAHOME)/export/$(TARGET)/bin
Libraries and plugins in $(MCAHOME)/export/$(TARGET)/lib

MCAHOME is your MCA2 directory. TARGET is created automatically depending on your operating system and CPU. Example: mca2/export/i686_Linux_debug/

Test

There are several test programs already built:

• reply_values
• pass_values
• time_test
• blackboard_test

They serve as examples for coding and execution. Start reply_values:

  [~]$ reply_values 4 &

Then start mcabrowser:

  [~]$ mcabrowser &

A treeview appears. Expand the treeview by clicking on the '+' symbols. If you click onto any name, a corresponding window with additional information appears. If a graph with modules and edges appear, click on any of them to get more information. Try also to access the IO-interfaces of modules and groups. As you can see, the module ReplyValues submits 4 values on ControllerInput and SensorOutput sides. The mcabrowser is a tool that enables to analyze and debug existing mca control programs.

Start mcagui now:

  [~]$ mcagui &

• Change the size of the window.
• Then create a slider (click on the corresponding tool button or select 'Slider' from menu 'Actors').
• Press <ctrl> button and click with right mouse button on the appeared slider widget: Change the size of the slider.
• Press <ctrl> button and click with left mouse button on the slider widget: Change the position of the slider.
• Press <ctrl> button and click with middle mouse button on the slider widget: A new configuration window appears.
• Select the 'Actor' Tab and select "actor 0" as IO Channel and "Port No. 0" as Widget Port.
• Press "-->" button to establish the connection. Your Slider is now connected to the ControllerInput "actor 0" of the reply_value program.
• Close the configuration window "Edit".
• Create an LCD widget (click on on the corresponding tool button or select 'LCD' from menu 'Sensors').
• Change Size and Position of this new widget, too.
• Press <ctrl> button and click with middle mouse button on the LCD widget.
• Select the 'Sensor' Tab and select "sensor 0" as IO Channel and "Port No. 0" as Widget Port.
• Press "-->" button to establish the connection. Your LCD is now connected to the SensorOutput "sensor 0" of the reply_value program.
• Close the configuration window "Edit".
• Use the slider: LCD value will change, too.
• Have a look at the console output of reply_values.
• Have a look at the IO-values in mcabrowser (use auto-update)

Windows

Download

Get the newest version of MCA2 on sourceforge:

• Download MCA2 from MCA2's Sourceforge Page

Please have a look at README_WIN32 as long as this section is not updated.

MAC/OS X

MAC/OS X support is not available for MCA version 2.4.x so far.